NCR SMEs use social media to spread brand and product awareness

DELHI-NCR: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs, categorised as social media or Web 2.0, are increasingly being used by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), start-ups and emerging entrepreneurs to talk about their products, services and business goals. So far used by only top notch companies in a big way, this trend is picking up really fast among smaller players and brands now.

Manuj Sharma, an architect by profession, garnered a lot of support for his vision and designs on Facebook and LinkedIn when he gave up his high-paying career to start his own venture. "First site that I joined was LinkedIn which put me in touch with a lot of people. It eventually helped me in striking business deals. Facebook brought back school friends who started liking and talking about my designs.

In 2007-10, I got many deals through my contacts on social networking sites," said Sharma, who runs 3D Architects, 'a one-man army', to put it in his own terms. "Now I have moved to a better and finer thing. I write newsletter about my project, design and vision and send it to all my contacts. As a result of all the networking I have done so far, people have started contacting me from abroad for work," he added.

CUSTOMER ON FRIEND LIST

If some companies have an in-house department for managing social media, some outsource this work to social media optimisation (SMO) and search engine optimisation (SEO) companies. Mansukh Investment and Trading Solutions, which has a centre in Noida, has outsourced its SMO work to AdGlobal 360. "We started using social media two years back. The number of people who know about Mansukh has increased manifold in these two years. We have more than 30,000 likes and comments on our Facebook page," said Deepak Ojha, manager of the investment firm.

He added, "We keep organising contests like 'Guess the Nifty?' on Facebook to keep our customers engaged. Since we can not talk about technicality, we connect day-to-day conversations with stock market to keep the customers glued to our page." It needs to be mentioned that social media started as a way for people to interact and socialise through net. But soon, realising its importance, it was picked up by marketing people for promotion, advertisement and branding. On asked why this trend is gaining momentum among smaller players, Rajiv Chawla, president, Faridabad Small Industries Assocaition, said, "It acts as a billboard for companies. Since it's a two-way communication, companies get instant feedback on their products, campaigns and policies.

Another very important reason is that social media can be managed with low budget. Also, it lets companies connect to the target audience with less resource." Faridabad Small Industries Association also uses social media to put across its new campaigns, policies, products, etc. "Immediate result and effective output are two reasons why small companies are rushing towards it," Chawla said.

MULTIPLE ADVANTAGE

Talking about this trend, Himanshu Bhalla, founder, Creativa India, an SMO and SEO firm said that this trend is picking up because of the boom in e-commerce in the recent past. "Though we cater to bigger players, we get a lot of demand from start-ups. To smaller companies, we suggest that it should be done by an in-house department as they have budget constraint and their business models are not defined. If they want to change anything, an in-house department can do it faster. Also, foundation should be laid by the company itself," said Bhalla.

AdGlobal 360 stated that social media gives two advantages at the same time. "First, if your page has been liked and commented by many people, it will feature in the top search list of Google. This is called organic traffic.

SMO does not only make your presence felt on Facebook and Twitter but also features you in the top of the search list of Google. In short, SMO benefit gives you SEO benefit also," said Sunil Sharma, CEO, AdGlobal 360. Unlike traditional media social media gives instant feedback. "If we post something today, it will be liked by many people next minute," said Rahul Singh, head of marketing, Gaja Jewellery, which has stores in Gurgaon and Ghaziabad. "On our webpage, people put queries about their demands and needs.

Within seconds, we revert to those customers and try to understand their needs. Sometimes people's profiles help us in customising products for them. In case our customers want to put forward their own design, we allow that also. Wide reach of internet and its availability at low cost are two other reasons why companies are using it in a big way," said Singh